PA and Fatah are fanning the flames of riots in Jerusalem, spreading libel that Israel is destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque

Fatah spokesman:

Israel’s plan is to “destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque

and build the alleged Temple on its ruins”

Former PA Prime Minister:

Israel is Judaizing and destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque

to build the alleged Temple

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

In a cartoon published on the website of Fatah's Information and Culture Commission, Israel is portrayed as an Islamic State executioner dressed in black with a Star of David on his hood and the text “Judaization” across his robe. The executioner is swinging an axe, about to decapitate a Palestinian whose head is the Dome of the Rock. The Palestinian is resting his head on a sleeping chopping block labelled “the international disregard.” [Website of Fatah's Information and Culture Commission, Sept. 19, 2015]

Earlier this month, Fatah spokesman in Jerusalem, Raafat Alayan, repeated the libel that Israel is acting “to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and build the alleged Temple”:

“[Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli extreme right are acting to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque, not only to divide it by times and areas... They want to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and build the alleged Temple on the ruins of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

[Official PA TV, Sept. 15, 2015]

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Former PA Prime Minister and PLO Executive Committee member and Head of the Department for Jerusalem Affairs Ahmed Qurei stated:

“The most important thing in Jerusalem is the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is being subjected to Judaization and division by times and areas, and moreover to destruction in order to build the alleged Temple.”

During the riots in July, the PA Ministry of Information called on all television and radio stations to “participate in the national campaign to protect the sites holy to Christianity and Islam” and to “listen to the voice of their conscience by taking a national stand to expose the attacks from all over taking place against Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, through the use of organized [Israeli] government terror.” [WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 26, 2015]

The following are longer excerpts of the statements repeating the libel that Israel is destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque:

Official PA TV program Topic of the Day hosted official Fatah Spokesman in Jerusalem Raafat Alayan

Official Fatah Spokesman in Jerusalem Raafat Alayan: “[Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli extreme right are acting to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque, not only to divide it by times and areas. The division by time has already existed for several months. The settlers enter from 7:00 am to 11:00 am. The settlers enter and exit... The Israeli plan is obvious... It wants to establish the alleged Temple on the ruins of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. Regarding division by time, it [Israel] says to the Muslims (interrupts himself) - by the way, it is already being implemented as I said earlier, but at the moment Israel wants to strengthen the division by time so that no Palestinian will be found in the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Regarding division by area, which Israel is planning, [the plan is that] the Dome of the Rock is intended for the Muslims, and the Muslims will be able to pray in the Dome of the Rock, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the location of the alleged Temple. They want to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and build the alleged Temple on the ruins of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. What are the Arabs and Muslims waiting for regarding this plan?”

[Official PA TV, Sept. 15, 2015]

"Division according to areas and times" refers to a proposed law (May 2013) being reviewed in Israeli Parliament that would allow for both Jews and Muslims to pray on the Temple Mount. The law seeks to designate separate prayer times and areas of the site for Muslims and Jews.

Former PA Prime Minister and PLO Executive Committee member and Head of the Department for Jerusalem Affairs Ahmed Qurei: “The main thing in Jerusalem is the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is being subjected to Judaization and division by times and areas, and moreover to destruction in order to build the alleged Temple.”

“In view of the savage attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the [PA] Ministry of Information called urgently to the television and radio stations to combine their broadcasts tomorrow [July 27, 2015], from 10:00 a.m. till 12:00 p.m., and listen to the voice of their conscience by taking a national stand to expose the attacks from all over taking place against Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, through the use of organized government terror.

The ministry called for the media and various internet sites to participate in the national campaign to protect the sites holy to Christianity and Islam, and to show the pictures of blood, destruction, and Israeli rampaging at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and to bring to the attention of free people throughout the world the repeated invasions by settlers under the occupation army’s protection ...

He emphasized that two hours of facts and numbers, alongside interviews with consuls of sisterly and friendly countries, jurists, [representatives of] international movements of solidarity with our people, Al-Aqsa Mosque Ribat fighters (i.e., Murabitin - those carrying out Ribat, religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic), and experts on [the Al-Aqsa Mosque], will help focus attention on the flower of cities (i.e., Jerusalem), which has had enough of the racist occupation which doesn’t attach any importance to the holy places and the houses of Allah.”

[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 26, 2015]

On July 26, 2015, Tisha B’Av, Israeli police entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque after Arab youth armed with rocks and fireworks blockaded themselves within the Mosque in order to confront police and disturb the visits of Jews to the Temple Mount on Tisha B’Av (see note below). There were confrontations and the police had to break in to the mosque in order to take control and restore peace.

Tisha B’Av is a Jewish day of mourning, commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem (586 BCE and 70 CE) and the forced exile of all Jews from the land of Israel.

The PA considers any presence of Jews on the Temple Mount an "attack."